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Sturgeon's House

"The end of Gun Blogging Forever?" article on TFB


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Both Phil and Steve have connections to the industry, so it could be someone knowledgeable and informed. Or it could be Ted Nugent, I dunno.

FWIW, while Obama himself doesn't seem to care about guns much, the people in his extended administration - especially in the upper echelons of the ATF - seem to be under the impression that it's their duty to make the most of the Obama presidency by fucking with gun owners as much as possible. Blaming all this on Barack himself is off, but it's not like nobody has any reason to be nervous.

Yeah, I understand there are problems, but as always, it's mis-directed. And I think they (the people you mentioned) are taking advantage of all of that. I don't think Barack gives a fly-fuck in a puddle about the Korean Garands, just that maybe Feinstein and maybe someone else wanted it. He put his signature down and went down to caring about more pressing issues.

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Yeah, I understand there are problems, but as always, it's mis-directed. And I think they're taking advantage of all of that. I don't think Barack gives a fly-fuck in a puddle about the Korean Garands, just that maybe Feinstein and maybe someone else wanted it. He put his signature down and went down to caring about more pressing issues.

 

I mean, yes, you're right, but it's also worth remembering that we've had some very serious extra-legal restrictions implemented in the past few years, like the 7N6 importation ban.

 

And it's not really like the ATF and other enforcement agencies have an awesome track record of correctly interpreting the wording of rulings. If ITAR regulations get revised in such a way that a regulatory agency COULD misinterpret them to mean "lock up Hank Strange for making YouTube videos" that may be a real concern.

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I mean, yes, you're right, but it's also worth remembering that we've had some very serious extra-legal restrictions implemented in the past few years, like the 7N6 importation ban.

And Oregon's weird laws, too, and a bunch of other stuff. I know. Just imagine if the focus was shifted away from the current rhetoric to a solid focus on bad legislation, and a focus on protection of legal rights of firearm owners, instead.

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Also, Don needs to up his trolling game. No bites so far.

 

Edit: If a miracle occured and I was advising a US President, I'd recommend dismantling Homeland Security and the ATF .

 

Nah. I'm not digging myself into this one. And my witticisms are lost among the shouting of the lynch mob. No. This time you guys are on your own.

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By the way, I just got off the phone with a friend and gun zealot who is "pretty high up."

 

This is part of a money donation effort on the part of two presidential contenders - there are several major asks coming up, and they need this to bring the blogoshpere to a rile to keep money coming into some campaigns who have hit the rocks recently.  Like the 9 billion rounds of hollow point asks, this will be around for a while as various political groups squeeze money out of the common joe for this election cycle.

 

There are something like 17 ITAR changes to USC and all of them are benign.  The worst of them will affect any of us who are writers and are currently being paid by Al Qaeda, ISIS, or other terror organizations.  You cannot, now at least, write a pamphlet for Al Qaeda with public domain information if in doing so you create a markedly different product.  I am not sure how many people on the gun forum are paid by foreign terror organizations, but I suspect the number is an integer smaller than 1.  

 

Another category of change is what state department writers can write about.  

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By the way, I just got off the phone with a friend and gun zealot who is "pretty high up."

 

This is part of a money donation effort on the part of two presidential contenders - there are several major asks coming up, and they need this to bring the blogoshpere to a rile to keep money coming into some campaigns who have hit the rocks recently.  Like the 9 billion rounds of hollow point asks, this will be around for a while as various political groups squeeze money out of the common joe for this election cycle.

 

There are something like 17 ITAR changes to USC and all of them are benign.  The worst of them will affect any of us who are writers and are currently being paid by Al Qaeda, ISIS, or other terror organizations.  You cannot, now at least, write a pamphlet for Al Qaeda with public domain information if in doing so you create a markedly different product.  I am not sure how many people on the gun forum are paid by foreign terror organizations, but I suspect the number is an integer smaller than 1.  

 

Another category of change is what state department writers can write about.  

Sounds more than plausible, given the state of US politics.

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To be fair, for a "non political" gun blog, This isn't the first time Steve has seemed to do this out of context political click bait shit.

 

I'd like to point out this was posted nearly 7 years ago, not like this is a new thing.

 

And are you really demanding people respect him and even threatening to ban people here just because he's your boss Sturgeon? Fucking seriously?

 

Edit: oh, but clearly in Feb 2009 this clearly happened and wasn't obvious click bait. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/02/27/assault-weapons-ban-20-is-on-its-way-in/ How about, if you want to insult your forum members and threaten to power trip on them over not respecting someone who's doing exactly what we're accusing him of in this thread, make sure he actually deserves his pristine reputation here first.

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To be fair, for a "non political" gun blog, This isn't the first time Steve has seemed to do this out of context political click bait shit.

 

I'd like to point out this was posted nearly 7 years ago, not like this is a new thing.

 

And are you really demanding people respect him and even threatening to ban people here just because he's your boss? Fucking seriously?

 

This is not Sturgeon demanding this of us, but a request.  Out of respect for Sturgeon we should remember it is his income and this is his forum.

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This is not Sturgeon demanding this of us, but a request.  Out of respect for Sturgeon we should remember it is his income and this is his forum.

 

Yeah, maybe if he came off as "respectful" himself I wouldn't be taking any issues right now.

 

What he said to Bele and implying he'd ban people for daring to discuss things he doesn't approve of is kind of horseshit, and I will call that out.

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Yeah, maybe if he came off as "respectful" himself I wouldn't be taking any issues right now.

 

What he said to Bele and implying he'd ban people for daring to discuss things he doesn't approve of is kind of horseshit, and I will call that out.

As the person who was involved, I'm not offended at all.  The language I used in my post wasn't really appropriate given that it's a public forum and it was referencing his employer. 

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Hey. I haven't even left Seattle yet. Don't blow this place up when I'm gone :-)

I hope My gift for you arrives in time.  It is a bear hunting suit made completely from bacon.  It has a custom made holster for an M4 pistol and two magazines, made from bacon, and cartridge loops for 24 rounds of 6.8mm made from prociouto.  

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That reminds me of the story of the bear who stole the market strawberries, heavy whip cream, organic grass fed steak and various groceries off the front porch of our cabin the day before my wife's birthday...

...

I mean. It's a hard knock life up here!

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To be fair, for a "non political" gun blog, This isn't the first time Steve has seemed to do this out of context political click bait shit.

 

I'd like to point out this was posted nearly 7 years ago, not like this is a new thing.

 

And are you really demanding people respect him and even threatening to ban people here just because he's your boss Sturgeon? Fucking seriously?

 

Edit: oh, but clearly in Feb 2009 this clearly happened and wasn't obvious click bait. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/02/27/assault-weapons-ban-20-is-on-its-way-in/ How about, if you want to insult your forum members and threaten to power trip on them over not respecting someone who's doing exactly what we're accusing him of in this thread, make sure he actually deserves his pristine reputation here first.

 

 

Yeah, maybe if he came off as "respectful" himself I wouldn't be taking any issues right now.

 

What he said to Bele and implying he'd ban people for daring to discuss things he doesn't approve of is kind of horseshit, and I will call that out.

 

Mech, you're getting emotional, calm down. First, I requested that people not use blatant insults, not that they had to be quiet about how they felt. Second, I did not threaten to ban anyone; I said I wouldn't moderate the thread unless I needed to give out a temp ban, and expressed my confidence that the good folks on SH would have no problems handling this topic.

In the same way that you would be risking your job by walking up to your boss and insulting him, it is a risk to my job to have a whole thread dedicated to insulting my employers. I know Steve, and I don't think he is so sensitive, but it is a matter of respect for me - not for them - that folks not use such harsh language when talking about them. In other words, if you respect me, please don't outright insult my bosses. Criticism is fine.

 

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By the way, I just got off the phone with a friend and gun zealot who is "pretty high up."

 

This is part of a money donation effort on the part of two presidential contenders - there are several major asks coming up, and they need this to bring the blogoshpere to a rile to keep money coming into some campaigns who have hit the rocks recently.  Like the 9 billion rounds of hollow point asks, this will be around for a while as various political groups squeeze money out of the common joe for this election cycle.

 

There are something like 17 ITAR changes to USC and all of them are benign.  The worst of them will affect any of us who are writers and are currently being paid by Al Qaeda, ISIS, or other terror organizations.  You cannot, now at least, write a pamphlet for Al Qaeda with public domain information if in doing so you create a markedly different product.  I am not sure how many people on the gun forum are paid by foreign terror organizations, but I suspect the number is an integer smaller than 1.  

 

Another category of change is what state department writers can write about.  

This is interesting, because although it seems like conservatives could use it to rile up the base, democrats could as well. The latter seems more direct and likely, but I doubt they have the good will in the state department to initiate something like this, even if it amounts to a benign little re-clarification of terms.

 

I guess I wasn't in the best of moods when I saw that. I had a shoulder bruise and headache from firing some free surplus .303 I got (never fire free .303 surplus ow). I made the mistake of using my Google log-in, and now I have a lot of Hello From the Internet  in some of my social media. Stay classy, internet commentors.

 

On a positive note, Pat and Alex had a fun video today.

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What is ITAR?

International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a set of U.S. government regulations that control the export and import of defense-related articles and services on the U.S. Munition List (USML).[1] These regulations implement the provisions of the Arms Export Control Act, and are described in Title 22 (Foreign Relations), Chapter I (Department of State), Subchapter M of the Code of Federal Regulations. The Department of State interprets and enforces ITAR. Its goal is to safeguard U.S. national security and further U.S. foreign policy objectives.

 

Is this a Democrat thing?

No.  It was passed in 1976 and supported by congress since then.  

 

This recent furor is because Obama is trying to get rid of guns?

No, the ITAR changes listed in the Federal register are mostly being done by technocrats who hold positions on civil service contracts that prevent politicization of their jobs.  That is why they are put into the Federal Register.  Technocrats have to tell everyone when they monkey with a reg so people have time to react.

 

Could This Affect Bloggers?

Absolutely, if they are exporters.  An exporter is someone who sells a product to a foreign entity for money.  A blogger who knowingly sells information, even openly available information, to a nation or NGO on a watch list can be fined or charged for violating ITAR.  This does not mean that they have to stop foreign nationals from visiting their blogs and earning them advertising dollars.  It means that if they get a paycheck for their writing for a foreign source they need to do due diligence to find out what the money is for and who is giving them the money.  So, for example, if a blogger is hired by China to write an article on the capabilities of US ships, they can be fined or jailed for this.  The big ones that are of concerns is ISIS, Boko Harum, the Taliban, and the like.

 

Do You Have an Example?

Yes.  ISIS contacts a blogger and asks for an article on how to execute soldiers wearing standard US helmet without removing them from their heads.  They offer the blogger $10,000 for the service.  The blogger complies and gives them the article and gets the money.  They have now violated ITAR.

 

What About the First Amendment?

Justices for 200 years have provided less freedom to commercial speech than political, so this speech, as it is commercial, faces stiffer regulations.

 

If the blogger writes an article on how to execute US soldiers and posts on their own website?

They need to talk to a lawyer, but they have not exported the product, as they received no money, and they were not contracted by a foreign power for the information.  Distasteful information is covered by the First Amendment.  

 

What changes actually happened?

The changes to ITAR are mostly on the subject of collation of open information. It is possible under the old regulations that a person who merely collated public information as a service for ISIS could be innocent as they were not providing new information.

 

Why then is the NRA concerned?

We are coming into a presidential season and the NRA's top candidates are already in trouble in the polls.  The NRA is a massively expensive organization to run with hundreds of people paid six figures or more, and a larger member base of lifetime members.  The only way to raise the HUGE money needed to keep the current political influence is to rouse the party base on trivial or non-existence issues.  This also confirms to Washington NRA power.  If the NRA can create buzz around a lie, then it is more powerful because it could bring down politicians who do not follow their fiat for any reason, even one without a factual basis.

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Do Bloggers Get Paid by Foreign Governments

If the question is does the TFB get paid by China, you have to say that is a unlikely scenario in the extreme.  If you mean do all bloggers fly clear and patriotic, the answer is also no.  If you look at the extremist Muslim postings in the United States blogosphere you will note a similar message and tone.  This is caused by money being paid to them to post.  It has long been noted that China pays Japanese, Philippine, and Indonesian posters for their work behind the scenes, and has a very strong effort in South America.  Russia pays left wing bloggers in Europe and used to support several US groups.  

 

It is only a few steps from taking money from a foreign power or a terror group to tweet their version of the truth, which is often legal(ish) to taking money from them for providing intelligence.

 

There is a market for fake posters and fakin blogs and money to help them establish.

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